Are You Missing a Vital Manicure Step?

You already know that your nails need to be squeaky clean before you start your manicure—if there are any oils trapped on the surface, polish streaks, bubbles, or chips happen twice as fast. But here's what you might not know: Wiping your nails with nail-polish remover doesn't count as cleaning.

"Most people use nail-polish removers, but that's actually the worst possible thing you can do because they're fortified with oils," says manicurist Jenna Hipp, who works with celebrities like Rachel McAdams and Miley Cyrus. "That not only causes nails to chip, but if you're using wraps, they'll come off." Instead, Hipp uses 70 percent rubbing alcohol that she keeps in a spray bottle. When it's time to lay down a basecoat, she simply spritzes the nails and wipes them with a cotton ball to remove every last trace of oil. And it's always worth the extra step. "When I ran into Rachel McAdams at a party two weeks after giving her nail wraps, she was still wearing them," says Hipp.